The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an iconic entry in the series, but it nearly had a different name.
An original idea for the name of the game would have given away a huge hint toward a massive spoiler, so if you’ve not finished the game yet, stop reading.
The original name of the game was Tears of the Dragon, as revealed by Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma and translated by Nintendo Everything. This would have been a spoiler because Zelda is the light dragon that players can see flying above Hyrule during their play time.
“Letting it slip that the Light Dragon is Zelda would have been a problem, and this had an effect on the title too,” Aonuma said. “One of the candidates for the title that made it to end was Tears of the Dragon.”
At the end of the game, it’s revealed that the light dragon is Princess Zelda herself. Until that point, the dragon roams around Hyrule, and can be attacked to gather healing materials. It also has the Master Sword protruding from its head, a weapon that can be pulled out if you have enough stamina, or if you wait until the final battle with the demon dragon.
“We went through many words, and then one time a staff member suggested, ‘What about Kingdom?’”, Aonuma continued. “With Tears of the Kingdom, it felt like the phrase could connect to the Light Dragon to us, and we could use dragons in the logo. With the title decided, the logo finally became what it is now.”
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